Welcoming new immigrants is one of Israel's highest priorities, but in practical terms the struggling nation has never found it easy to absorb them. When Soviet Jews began to pour in last December, experts warned there would not be enough apartments to house them. With the arrival of nearly 50,000 immigrants so far this year, and another 100,000 expected in the next five months, the housing crunch has come.
Only it isn't the newcomers who are suffering most. Hundreds of low-salaried Israelis, many of them young army veterans, have been turned out of their homes in favor of newcomers who are...